We have added a Gift Upgrades feature that allows you to gift an account upgrade to another member, just in time for the holiday season. You can see the gift option when going to the Account Upgrades screen, or on any user profile screen.

Nobles' Club 197 - Gilgamesh of Sumeria

I played on, if you have any thoughts and feedback on the previous turnset, it's still very much appreciated.

SpoilerT145 - T190 :

I played this rather late at the evening and did some mistakes that I know of, and others that I am probably unaware of!

The GA that I pulled after killing wang was probably wasted, it was not enough to reach any new critical tech. I should probably have waited until my cities had recovered abit. I should have accepted a turn of revolt to get crucial civics instead.

Last turnset, Zara had declared on me and Napoleon apparantly decied to join in on the fun.
I took opportunity of this and sniped his stack once it was placed conveniently in neutral ground.

Up north I had 10-15 trebs, but too few units (probably case system was a horrible mistake, I could have whipped more units up there.

Once his stack was taken care of, and the killers moved north with some built reinforcements Napoleon folded after i took Orleans, the city of "Happy Nappy" and Paris.
He was kind enough to place the reminder of his units outside of the old barbarian/wang city I had way up north. A city where I placed 4 longbowmen and whipped walls/castle. During the entire was they stood there, bombarding with a single catapult.

At T164 Napoleon capitulated.
I thought about gifting back paris, but it had hanging gardens so I kept it.

The same turn he capitulated I started the second golden age. This time prioritizing research and not further GPerson generation.
I managed to trade nationalism with zara and reach almost all the way to rifling.
All my troops marched toward Pacal now, supplomented by a few knights. (Bad play, I should really have resupplied them much more.)

After the GA, I saw it as my endgame plan to limp toward steel, while drafting a huge ammount of riflemen. Since we are creative I thought it would be good to get theatres and colosseums in place so I built them everywhere.
This was just bad play on my part (it was getting late). Allthough theatres was a nice idea, I should not have built them first. The game wasn't stacked in such a way that there was time to slowly prepare like that.
All cities started to produce trebs after theatres. Not sure if this was the best play, but the reasoning was that I would draft rifles and I needed something to complement that.

At T172 (1120AD) I declared on Pacal.
Next turn, Zara and Isabella was bribed on me.

I think it is safe to say I was overstreched here. My army was outdated and to meager really. It was only because of Napoleons aid I managed to pull this of.
Some knights were still built and moved up, and once rifling was in some few riflemen was sent to this front.

The majority of all drafts and all trebs went to the south, in preparation for a push on that front.
I had to bombard alot during the Pacal war and he reached Military Science and Steel too, and when I was standing outside mutal I had to continue to bombard even as Pacal attacked my stack with a few cannons. I lost half of my trebs when attacking, which was a pity. They where nice CR3 ones that I planned on upgrading.

I should REALLY have resupplied that northern army earlier. And failed to do so at numerous occations.
I lost quite a few units, and I think I can thank Napoleon which took a Pacal city of his own for getting war succes enough to get Pacal to capitulate. If he hadn't folded after Mutal I have had to make peace anyway. There was no way I could have gone further.

Empire overview:

Next step?

Well... I'm still at war with Zara, and I have about 20 trebs and 10 riflemen at justinians borders. Probably way too many trebs, shouldn't have set ALL cities to build trebs. I think I overestimate how many rifles you get with drafting.
But Zara has military science so it's probably a very bad idea to struggle toward him.

It's probably best to go for Justinian directly, who is a much softer target.
Not too concerned with tech, and I'll probably focus 100% on military once I have steel.
If I can manage to get MT easy, the addition of cavalery might yield a quicker win.

I did some trading with Pacal to deprive him of health resources since his population was "53% of master, free at 50%", I don't understand the exact mechanics though, but I tried to play it safe.

Did sue for peace with Zara (Should have taken ceasefire), declared on Justantin T192 and he caved in after 2 cities at T195.
Declared on Isabella at T196 and tried to do it on Zara at T197 as well but it was still a few turns left on the peace treaty.

Isabella wanted to capitulate after her first city had fallen, but I thought I would wait a turn to see if I could capitulate them both to get a conquest instead of domination.
Next turn she withdrew her offer though..

At T206 after he lost two cities Zara decided he had enough and once he capitulated Isabella followed suit.

Save attached (Buffy 005)
(I tried previously to save the game in worldbuilder and load it with no mod installed, but the culture got completly changed by that, perhaps cultural borders aren't saved in worldbuilder saves?)

SpoilerLessons learned :

Some mistakes I see:

* Going hunting first was obviously wrong. I still stand by AH->Min->BW though.
* Not going for a quick construction attack on Napoleon, but instead falling in love with the engineering bulb idea.
* Choosing Wang as the first target, and staying in Police state during the war caused me to fall behind in tech before reaching crucial military tech.
* Neglectance to resupply the front toward Pacal. (This was very bad, if I hadn't succeded in capping him it would probably have costed me 20-40 turns or more,)
* I built way to much infrastructure and buildings, I wastly overestimated how hard the final push would be. I prepared myself for a long and drawn out war. If I would have instead built more units at crunch time, I would have had the victory in hand way earlier.

Overall, I feel I had a disharmony between teching and unit building. Teching too much at the wrong times, not quite reaching what I really needed. And building too much units and times and too little at other times.

Do you know of some resource that cover how an usual AI gameplay looks like?

Click to expand...

Spoiler:

Mmm, not really, sorry. You can try watching some of Sullla's AI survivor matches on YT or peruse his threads about them on his own site, he talks about what they are doing while the matches are ongoing. Other than that I just learned some of it through playing and the occasional observation of an all AI match of my own.

Like the thing about Nappy's starting land is it is lacking strong hammers (usually not a problem) but even worse he lacks a powerful food tile in his first two spots (he took the Ivory/FP in my game) so his growth is slow. Even on Deity, with Cow and Horse in the cap his growth to 3 or more tiles is still slower due to lower food and it puts him behind a bit. The way the AI runs cities and develops its land (it doesn't whip much beyond emergencies or wonders, chops conservatively, cottages everything, etc), size is key for them so they work as many tiles as possible. Nappy like to push units, so lots of just sitting there building them in hammer weaker spots and growing more slowly at the same time slows him a lot compared to where he could be at. FP and lacking some health could have also contributed. His land is not bad at all --but he lacks the way a human plays to use it well.

The settler thing exemplifies it. I ran a WB of the start again immediately after posting here, and he was almost the last AI to put down a second city, beating religion spammer and terrible starting tech-having Izzy by only a couple turns... settler was initially building at 31 turns, even after the Immortal handicap, it took him something like 13 turns to finish it. Wang got his settler out and city DOWN in 8 or 9 turns...he even beat the IMP Justin to first settler out and second city.

By contrast, at the only hardsave i made on turn 75, WB reveals now that Nappy was at 3 cities, building one settler and preparing to settle city 4. Pacal was at 6 cities, and building 3 more settlers!

1.
As I read it I see that you have a large sense of urgency and you attend to your empires needs at the present, not getting distracted with "That would be good to have in 50 turns" etc.
But a thought arose as I read about the pyramids race.
Do you think that you really should worry that much about your immediate neighbours getting pyramids before you? I'm thinking I would almost rather that Wang or Nappy would build them for me, since I'm most likely going to conquer them anyway?
Ofcourse that would lead to Rep being available later, it's probably best to build it yourself in this situation, but I'm not sure it's worth to bend your game over backwards to make a rush for them.

Click to expand...

I have a bad habit of over worrying about the AI and what it does; one of the regulars pointed it out to me ever since I started posting in the NC threads.. I came from a much simpler civ game to this one where keeping tabs on everything the AI is doing can let you do some insane things to them.

I do lack long term foresight. It's why this game degraded into a post-assembly line thing, i ran into the ground overwhipping (but I did kick Nappy's ass ). It's just too complex for me to keep it all in my head at once, at least without a lot more practice to familiarize myself with all the stuff in the game intimately.

Like I said, I already decided upon seeing the stone + the power of our start that I wanted Mids. When Wang got GW that early it was a red flag he had A.) Masonry and B.) stone. AIs can build Mids quite early even on Immortal with that exact circumstance (pre-2000BC) and i didn't want to lose CRE Library + Rep scientists gambit to him, that would have led to a rather boring elephant attack --which I did anyway, but i did it off the back of that gambit and with much more hammer potential because of it since I didn't avoid settling/focus too hard on cottaging to save the economy.

I also look at land from mostly a productive viewpoint: for instance I can tell you that cities whipped down to size 4 can still effectively pump Cuirs with only one food resource and couple mined hills, or with just green farms and a couple hills at size 6...but my grasp of commerce and tech rates and such are often just me winging it. So I was kind of relying on Mids for Rep scientists to get me forward to Currency, since looking at the land I was planning 7 cites at least... they are quite productive (much more than Nappy's; in fact a quick glance at the map in WB shows we and Wang Kon have the best starts for productive output)

So all that mess was my thought process. But I think you are right though, it would have been better to just not worry so much about it if I played straight up with a couple less cities

NW of the oasis will keep that city within the "Cheesy Circle", and I think the effect of this was1GPT already at pop1.
I'm not sure my reasoning is better, but since I gave this graph a thought perhaps it can be of use for you in other games as well.

Click to expand...

Interesting. I can't lie that didn't even consider maintenance though, I was more concerned with city placement regarding food (ignoring the weaker Western city, all the cities in the area can run their own food resource) and eventually access to hills. Perhaps such considerations could help me if I ever plan to try to buckle down and move up to big-boy Deity, thanks for the article link.

Oh wait, Lagash, the copper city. Yeah that city is crap, pretty much there for the barb insurance; grabs copper, fogbusts and keeps Wang away too, but to make such a spot salvageable for short-term push in terms of hammers, I had to abuse CRE and take the rice too since my workers were gonna be busy chopping on the other side of the empire and it would have to whip to do anything on its own.

It's not always a complete bad idea to settle junkers if they do something useful like take stone/copper/horse or work a gold mine, and just eat the maintenance. This was a bit far though, and I don't even need the graph and stuff to tell you I felt it lol.

In hindsight I would probably settle that 1N of copper if at all; the peak is in the exact spot I wanted to put it and Mids + CRE culture might grab it anyway. I did eventually use the forests to chop catapults quickly for the Nappy DoW, but overall, terrible settle on my part. Especially cause I also pushed toward Nappy in other direction

3.
And toward the end you mention something about the engineer and bulbing engineering.
Is there something I haven't paid attention to, regarding the use of an engineer to bulb engineering?

Click to expand...

-Great Engineer from Mids/Forge

-have iron working, Construction, Metal Casting, and Machinery already; MC can be gotten through Oracle or a GM (like say, from GLH) if you already have Currency.

-GE will bulb into Engineering

That's what I thought we were talking about when bulbing Engineering since I had Mids on the brain. I don't know off the top of my head how to do it with GS (you need Aesthetics, i think? Definitely need alpha already), though I know you can, and that's the thing that concerns not having fishing. GE bulb Fishing doesn't matter and you can skip Alpha, but is also incomplete bulb I think (GS ~1500 vs GE ~1000 beakers)

I think it's more commonly used to bulb the cheaper Machinery, as it's a gambit with Qin Shi Huang (Oracle MC, Forge for Engineer in another city should outpace Oracle Prophet, bulb Machinery for Cho-Ko-Nus).

I think at this point I need to start thinking about some aggression. Maybe France as I see 2 irons there plus marble and stone. Plus he never seems happy and he's encroaching my space when he has open space to settle in peace.

Not bad stuff here at all. Some points for improvement, but it appears like you are really starting to pick up some concepts. Decent settling positions for the most part, although Nibru might be better placed a bit south as a helper city for Uruk. Overall though, you have a pretty good foundation for doing whatever you want.

Things to point out:

1) You really need to focus on getting out that first GS sooner from somewhere, likely Uruk. But at this point Kish is your best option and that city should be running 2 scientists.

2) Mids will solve any happiness issues next turn when you adopt Representation, so Calendar IMO is not a priority. I think you should gear up for war with Eliepults.

3) So go HBR and Construction and put Nappy out of his misery. (Yes, he's not a happy chap and one of the 4 or 5 "psychos" in the game) Wang is another option, but Napster has ivory so I would want to relieve him of that before he gets hbr/construction as well...and relieve him of the rest of his possesions.

4) Try to manage that happiness. You really should not just sit on unhappy citizens unless you plan to whip them. (again, this will be resolved next turn, but looking backwards some cities could have been managed better or whipped)

6) With Currency in now, check every turn for tech trades for gold or whatever. Not saying trade every turn but evaluate the trade against techs and gold. For instance, Wang will give you 30g for Monotheism. Why won't he give you at least Priesthood as well? Because he is teching Monotheism right now and about to finish it. Might as well get some gold.

7) Pacal is best techer on the map. Focus EPs on him. Do this immediately when you meet someone like him. By now you would see what he is teching, which further helps with trade evaluations. (Hypothetically, if Pacal was not on this map, I'd probably go with Justinian or Wang for EP focus..likely Justinian, who is simply the strongest AI in the game)

8) Warriors in SE could have adjusted a bit more south for spawnbusting. (looks like you have a couple of settling options down that way, although I think I spied a settler of yours heading that way. (a road to that city would have been good)

9) Why do you have Archery?

With mono trade to Wang for 30g, and another scientist in Kish you can finish HBR directly in 3 turns, then go construction. Pick a couple of cities for Elie production and whip stables there...the rest of the cities can build cats (with or without barracks). Throw in a couple of vultures or so for stack support. (although I think you have 2 vulture sitting in Kish) 4 or 5 Elies, 2 vultures, and 5 or 6 cats about what you need to start war with Napster, followed by reinforcements. Then start stack for Wang.

Start keeping an eye on the relationships between AIs. Who does or does not like whom. Very much want to know this before declaring on someone or possibly bribing someone.

Last edited: Oct 16, 2018

"Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to be always part of unanimity." Christopher Morley

@OldDude Not bad stuff here at all. Some points for improvement, but it appears like you are really starting to pick up some concepts. Decent settling positions for the most part, although Nibru might be better placed a bit south as a helper city for Uruk. Overall though, you have a pretty good foundation for doing whatever you want.

Things to point out:

1) You really need to focus on getting out that first GS sooner from somewhere, likely Uruk. But at this point Kish is your best option and that city should be running 2 scientists.

2) Mids will solve any happiness issues next turn when you adopt Representation, so Calendar IMO is not a priority. I think you should gear up for war with Eliepults.

3) So go HBR and Construction and put Nappy out of his misery. (Yes, he's not a happy chap and one of the 4 or 5 "psychos" in the game) Wang is another option, but Napster has ivory so I would want to relieve him of that before he gets hbr/construction as well...and relieve him of the rest of his possesions.

4) Try to manage that happiness. You really should not just sit on unhappy citizens unless you plan to whip them. (again, this will be resolved next turn, but looking backwards some cities could have been managed better or whipped)

6) With Currency in now, check every turn for tech trades for gold or whatever. Not saying trade every turn but evaluate the trade against techs and gold. For instance, Wang will give you 30g for Monotheism. Why won't he give you at least Priesthood as well? Because he is teching Monotheism right now and about to finish it. Might as well get some gold.

7) Pacal is best techer on the map. Focus EPs on him. Do this immediately when you meet someone like him. By now you would see what he is teching, which further helps with trade evaluations. (Hypothetically, if Pacal was not on this map, I'd probably go with Justinian or Wang for EP focus..likely Justinian, who is simply the strongest AI in the game)

8) Warriors in SE could have adjusted a bit more south for spawnbusting. (looks like you have a couple of settling options down that way, although I think I spied a settler of yours heading that way. (a road to that city would have been good)

9) Why do you have Archery?

With mono trade to Wang for 30g, and another scientist in Kish you can finish HBR directly in 3 turns, then go construction. Pick a couple of cities for Elie production and whip stables there...the rest of the cities can build cats (with or without barracks). Throw in a couple of vultures or so for stack support. (although I think you have 2 vulture sitting in Kish) 4 or 5 Elies, 2 vultures, and 5 or 6 cats about what you need to start war with Napster, followed by reinforcements. Then start stack for Wang.

Start keeping an eye on the relationships between AIs. Who does or does not like whom. Very much want to know this before declaring on someone or possibly bribing someone.

Yeah I did kind of forget to get scientists going sooner but I've played some since then and got a GS out and had him build an academy in the cap. This brings a question to mind though...as you get more GS born, do you build more academies or do you start bulbing? Situational?

When you say EPs, I'm assuming that means Espionage Points? I've never used spies before so I'm not sure how that works.

I have archery from a trade.

So when I was about 2 turns into preparing for war with Nappy, the dude attacked me. He went for my 7th city and captured it. Fortunately I had 6 vultures on his border where he had iron. So I easily took that city. I then cranked up the Ellie/Cat production and took him out. So now I'm recovering from all of the whipping and getting ready for Wang.

I'm not sure what kind of victory I want here, maybe space since I've never done that before and I have a pretty good tech lead.

Your worker use is poor here and too few workers for 300bc and 7 cities. Farming plains is a very bad habit. I rarely do it unless I need chain irrigation. Kish needed 2xcottages for Uruk. That is what the workers should have been doing.

Barracks if you plan phant/catapult war.

I really think you should be playing this on a higher level than Noble. Based on this save you could compete against Prince/Monarch level.

Your priority for the first GS is almost always an academy in your Capital, unless another city is more suited for a Bureaucracy cottage capital. Later, you will use more GS for bulb strategies. Something we have not really broached yet, but usually revolves around speeding your way to the Lib path. Or possibly going for an earlier military advantage.

Yep, Eps are espionage points. There is a button in the top right of the screen that is the espionage advisor. You can change the weight to 1 using the + button next to the leader and all points will be directed toward that leader. Or you can split them up in different ratios between target leaders, but for now I recommend just focusing on one Leader that is usually a great techer like Pacal. You don't really have to think much about it afterwards, but after a time you will have enough EPs to see what he is teching which will appear on the Scoreboard.

Archery - Okay...here is a concept that is new for you. AIs have trade caps - that is, the number of techs trade before they become unwilling to trade with you. Also, known as "We Fear You Are Becoming To Advanced" (WFYABTA). So the key here is being careful what you trade for during the game. Avoid trading for small insignificant techs like Archery or those little religious techs. These are things that when need you will be able to tech real fast, likely one turn at some point in the game. But when you trade for those techs they go against the trade cap. You wan't to freely trade for the important techs and not be blocked out because you hit your trade caps. (Another concept that really plays a more important role and becomes more evident as you move up difficulty)

Also, a note on Archery itself. With the exception of the lovely Horse Archer unit or in the rare case I need them for barb defense on Immortal or Deity level, where they are much more a concern if you can't get horse or copper early, I rarely tech Archery. In fact, I've gone whole games without owning the tech, or maybe at some point I just got it by virtue of a peace deal with an AI. In fact, if I don't start with Hunting, I often go without that tech as well for a long time. Note that Archery is a "Dead End Tech". It leads to nothing, so having to tech it is an unwanted diversion unless you just have to have it for some reason, like Horse Archers.

Ha..that is Nappy for you. Granted AIs are more docile on Noble, but the psychos can still attack at any level. Oh..and note the Fist on the scoreboard next to the Leader. The Red Fist is a BUG feature that denotes when a leader is plotting war. Always keep an eye out for that, cause it could mean they are plotting on you. (War plotting is also identified in the diplo screen with a Leader. If you look at the section where you can ask him to declare war on someone you will see the tooltip "We Have Enough On Our Hands Right Now" [WHEOOHRN] - that means the leader is plotting on someone)

Good job though taking him out. Eliepults should allow you to grab a lot of land from the AI. Space Victory does not preclude war, in fact the more land the better for Space. Optimal Space victories usually have players trying to get a close to the Domination land threshold as possible. More land means more beakers and more production.

Space might be an interesting thing for you now, although it will take you far into a game well past the advice you have been given so far. Regardless, I think the best thing is to continue practicing the early game mechanics before you move up levels. But as Gumbo said, you can feel free to move up a level or two. Prince is not really a big jump from Noble. Monarch is where the AIs start with Archery.

On another note, I recommend joining up on the next Succession Game of the Month. It should be starting up in a few weeks. Succession games are teams that play a specially created map by the SGOTM staff with specials rules and stuff. Teams compete to meet the victory requirements of the SGOTM and whatever the actually designated game victory is. Playing with others in this slow and deliberate type game, with much planning, is a great way to learn. I believe my team is full, but with more sign-ups some new teams will form and you will likely get some very experienced players to learn from on your team. Oh..and they are quite fun.

"Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to be always part of unanimity." Christopher Morley

Your worker use is poor here and too few workers for 300bc and 7 cities. Farming plains is a very bad habit. I rarely do it unless I need chain irrigation. Kish needed 2xcottages for Uruk. That is what the workers should have been doing.

Barracks if you plan phant/catapult war.

I really think you should be playing this on a higher level than Noble. Based on this save you could compete against Prince/Monarch level.

Click to expand...

Oh, sorry. This is my first time on an NC game so I wasn't aware of the protocol. Edited the above posts and will follow the protocol moving forward.

OK, yes I can see that I could use some more workers. Question on the farmer plains being a very bad habit. What if the city just needs food and that's all you have? What do you normally build on plains? Workshops?

Regarding the game level, I've been playing a long time at Warlord and then tried to move to Noble and couldn't figure out how to win at that level. I know it's child's play for all of you but it wasn't for me. So I started a shadow game and got tons of great advice and learned a lot. So I wanted to play a few more games at that level to try to fine tune and ingrain as many concepts as possible before moving up another level. I'll probably play the last couple of NC games after this at Noble and then go up a level.

Why are you so keen to improve th0se plains? 2f1h tiles are very poor. I would rather whip tiles like these away as they are in effect unimproved tiles. I count 4 grassland tiles around Kish that already provide 2 food. (Albeit one covered by forest.) Why passover grassland river tiles for 2f1h? Cottaged grassland river tiles is your priority for your capital. Commerce is key if you want a decent economy. These cottages will provide 4-6 base commerce in 80-100 turns time. Your farmed plains will provide 2f1H in 100 turns time. I would forget about workshops for now. Focus on the basics.

I would be chopping forest, building river grassland cottages for your capital or it's helper cities. Your capital should have 6-7 cottages by now. If you wanted mids you should of planned more workers to chop the forest and build cottages.

So early game you want to work key food resources like corn, wheat, pigs focusing on 5-6F food resources. Then look at chopping forest. (These could of been used for 2-3 workers.) That or chops to help with granaries/wonders.. Then you want to gradually build up cottages. You really want at least 1-2 worker dedicated to your capital. This is where cottages should initially go. With Bureau civic you get a 50% bonus on commerce in your capital.

I really don't like Nibru settled place. No food resources at all. At best it should of been 1S to help with the capital's cottages. This is why early cities are used as helper cities. Only 1 citiy near your capital so far can help run a cottage.

Jumping to Prince is not a huge leap. Your already expanding way faster than Prince Ai will ever do. You just need to watch out for warmongers. Are you using buffy or Bull to spot when AI going into fist mode?

Side thought!
Remember when a city grows each citizen consumes 2 food. So with a farmed plains you are gain 1 hammer per pop growth. This is one of the reasons you want a city near a food resource that can provide 4-5 base food once improved. If you whip away that citizen working the plains for 29 hammers you are gaining nearly 20 hammers compared to what that citizen might of produced over time to regrow that population. (6-10 turns without granary?) A strong argument for whipping away unimproved tiles in a city.

Your priority for the first GS is almost always an academy in your Capital, unless another city is more suited for a Bureaucracy cottage capital. Later, you will use more GS for bulb strategies. Something we have not really broached yet, but usually revolves around speeding your way to the Lib path. Or possibly going for an earlier military advantage.

Yep, Eps are espionage points. There is a button in the top right of the screen that is the espionage advisor. You can change the weight to 1 using the + button next to the leader and all points will be directed toward that leader. Or you can split them up in different ratios between target leaders, but for now I recommend just focusing on one Leader that is usually a great techer like Pacal. You don't really have to think much about it afterwards, but after a time you will have enough EPs to see what he is teching which will appear on the Scoreboard.

Archery - Okay...here is a concept that is new for you. AIs have trade caps - that is, the number of techs trade before they become unwilling to trade with you. Also, known as "We Fear You Are Becoming To Advanced" (WFYABTA). So the key here is being careful what you trade for during the game. Avoid trading for small insignificant techs like Archery or those little religious techs. These are things that when need you will be able to tech real fast, likely one turn at some point in the game. But when you trade for those techs they go against the trade cap. You wan't to freely trade for the important techs and not be blocked out because you hit your trade caps. (Another concept that really plays a more important role and becomes more evident as you move up difficulty)

Also, a note on Archery itself. With the exception of the lovely Horse Archer unit or in the rare case I need them for barb defense on Immortal or Deity level, where they are much more a concern if you can't get horse or copper early, I rarely tech Archery. In fact, I've gone whole games without owning the tech, or maybe at some point I just got it by virtue of a peace deal with an AI. In fact, if I don't start with Hunting, I often go without that tech as well for a long time. Note that Archery is a "Dead End Tech". It leads to nothing, so having to tech it is an unwanted diversion unless you just have to have it for some reason, like Horse Archers.

Ha..that is Nappy for you. Granted AIs are more docile on Noble, but the psychos can still attack at any level. Oh..and note the Fist on the scoreboard next to the Leader. The Red Fist is a BUG feature that denotes when a leader is plotting war. Always keep an eye out for that, cause it could mean they are plotting on you. (War plotting is also identified in the diplo screen with a Leader. If you look at the section where you can ask him to declare war on someone you will see the tooltip "We Have Enough On Our Hands Right Now" [WHEOOHRN] - that means the leader is plotting on someone)

Good job though taking him out. Eliepults should allow you to grab a lot of land from the AI. Space Victory does not preclude war, in fact the more land the better for Space. Optimal Space victories usually have players trying to get a close to the Domination land threshold as possible. More land means more beakers and more production.

Space might be an interesting thing for you now, although it will take you far into a game well past the advice you have been given so far. Regardless, I think the best thing is to continue practicing the early game mechanics before you move up levels. But as Gumbo said, you can feel free to move up a level or two. Prince is not really a big jump from Noble. Monarch is where the AIs start with Archery.

On another note, I recommend joining up on the next Succession Game of the Month. It should be starting up in a few weeks. Succession games are teams that play a specially created map by the SGOTM staff with specials rules and stuff. Teams compete to meet the victory requirements of the SGOTM and whatever the actually designated game victory is. Playing with others in this slow and deliberate type game, with much planning, is a great way to learn. I believe my team is full, but with more sign-ups some new teams will form and you will likely get some very experienced players to learn from on your team. Oh..and they are quite fun.

Got it on the GS. Follow up question; I've seen that the tech you can bulb is not a choice. Do you typically just bulb the tech the game picks for you or do you wait for a different one? Anyway to manipulate that?

Got it on Archery as it makes sense. I haven't run into WFYABTA but I can see how that can make a difference so I'll be more judicious in what I trade for.

Yes I did see the red fist and figured he was plotting against me. The fist was only there for a couple of turns so I was surprised he attacked when he did. No matter as I was preparing for him anyway and he just sealed his own fate.

EPs, very interesting. I'll have to play around with that. When you spend points on that does it take away from beakers or gold? Anything?

Yeah I want to continue to work on the early game mechanics to further fine tune and improve as I know I'm still missing stuff. More practice and it should come. I do want to see what the space victory looks like though so I think I'm going to try that in this game. After that I think I'll try the earlier NC game at Noble and try to fine tune so more.

Many use 2xGS on education and a final one on Liberalism. You need to avoid machinery for liberalism bulb to work. Bulbing anything under 1300 beakers is normally wasteful. A scientist bulb is 1500 beakers +3xtotal population. (E.g. number of citizens.) Most will use first GS for an academy. There are many bulb strategies out there. E.G. Maths bulb to improve chops.

As for the list on the link you will always bulb the highest tech on list that is available. So for lib bulb you need techs like calendar and compass first.

Do you typically just bulb the tech the game picks for you or do you wait for a different one? Anyway to manipulate that?

Click to expand...

Gumbo pointed out a good list on bulb priorities. I would make clear that what he is saying is not to bulb calendar or compass, or the first tech on the priority list, if that is not clear. But rather the list is a guide to the progression or prerequisites for the bulb path. So that is why the bulbing is not a a "choice". Each great person (except Great Spies which don't bulb anything) have a bulb path with tech prioritization. Each list represents that priority in order. However, there are ways around certain priorities by avoiding certain techs that block a tech bulb. I know this sounds a bit complicated but you will get a feel for it the more you play.

As an example, lets take a look at the Great Scientists bulb path with Liberalism in mind. Writing is first on the list. Well, you ain't gonna have a GS before writing anyway. Then you have Maths, Scientific Method, Physics, and Education. Education is your target on the way to Lib. Scientific Method and Physics are later than Edu so not a concern. Maths is next priority after Writing. Writing opens up Maths anyway, so hypothetically if you had a GS you could bulb it. Ofc, we are talking about Education here, so Maths is something you would have teched or traded for long ago.

Edu is opened up by Paper (which is also on the bulb path). Once you tech Civil Service (or Theocracy, which you will likely rarely do), you open Paper. Once you tech Paper, you can bulb or double bulb Education. Paper you could also bulb, but its value compared to bulb value is not great, as its base value (I think around 900 to 1000 beakers) is less than the typical GS bulb value in this time period which is usually around 1600 plus beakers. On the other hand, if you have the ability to produce a lot of GS's in a short time frame then value is relative to the speed at which you bulb through the Lib path toward your goal. (Often this goal on high levels is to use Liberalism on Military Tradition for Curaissiers - a great unit on higher difficulties)

Education is valid for a double bulb as its cost is relative to the value of 2 GS bulbs - the 2xbulb value is likely more than the base cost of Education, but it may be worth it to double bulb for the speed. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't depending on my tech rate and GS production.

Now here is where we really get to the point Gumbo was making about this bulb path and prioritization. Once Edu is bulbed or otherwise completed, Liberalism is open to tech or part bulb. However, Education also opens up Printing Press. Now look at that GS bulb list. You notice that Printing Press is next in priority after Education, so once Edu is complete, if you have a GS it will be forced to bulb Printing Press (part bulb..and not a bad use of GS by the way..it is a good tech). Likewise, you see Liberalism is way way down on that list, although much that supersedes it in priority is either already teched or comes later. So what is the key here to open Liberalism vs. Printing Press? Machinery, as Gumbo mentioned. Machinery is a requisite tech for Printing Press; therefore, you would not be able to even tech or bulb PP without completing Machinery. So the ultimate point here is there are ways to control your bulb path by how you manipulate your tech progression.

Other situations exist for special bulb paths for certain conditions, but the Lib path is the general goal of most bulb strategies...and..ha..I'm sure it is confusing enough for you already. Just play with it, and you will get a feel for it.

The Maths strategy that Gumbo pointed out is a high level play usually only done with Philo leaders. Philosophical (a top tier trait) increases GPP by 100%, so basically if you are able to get up a couple of quick libraries early game and run those scientists you can likely produce 2 GSs in about the same time as a non-Philo leader produces 1 GS (1 GS bulbs Maths, the 2nd for academy). So blowing a GS to bulb Maths can be a strategy to open up those nicer chops, usually with the intent of building a fast army. Maths can also likely be traded away for some good stuff later..so it kind of pays off even though Maths is way below the beaker value of a GS bulb. For you, I would avoid this idea for now...that academy in cap always pays off.

So here are the typical techs in a Lib path:
Philosophy (1xGS - full bulb )
Paper (avoid bulb unless you have a lot of GSs)
Education (1xGS - part bulb, or 2xGS - full bulb)
Liberalism (1XGS - part bulb)
(Philosophy actually can be good for a full bulb as the value is more on par. Paper not so much, but hypothetically if you are really pumping out GSs fast, you could bulb it all)

"Part bulb" means the GS will not fully complete the tech, so you just finish it up. Now one last thing to point out is to be cognizant of value of the GS bulb, which can fluctuate a bit based on tech rate. For instance, say you have already start putting beakers into Education with the idea of part bulbing it before completing. Try to make sure you bulb Edu before putting too many beaker such that the GS bulb value exceeds what beakers remain to finish Edu. Yes, it would complete Edu, but there is no beaker overflow when you bulb a tech, so those extra beakers are lost. Ha..this may be hard to understand at first, but I'll provide an example. Let's say your empire tech rate is 500 bpts. You start Education which cost around 2900 beakers. A GS is about to pop and is currently worth 1700 beakers for a bulb. So , hypothetically, after 3 turns you have 1500 beakers invested in Education. 2900 - 1500 = 1400. If you bulbed Edu at this point it will finish but 300 beakers would simply disappear - those leftover from the bulb (1700-1400). Now, if you bulbed Edu on the second turn: 2900-1000 = 1900 - then Edu is not yet complete. You now have about 2700 beakers invested into a 2900 beaker tech. So you put that final turn into Education at your 500 bpt tech rate. After finishes you will get about 300 beakers of overflow into the next tech. So in short, finishing techs normally gives some beaker overflow based on your tech rate, but bulbing beakers can be lost if not managed wisely.

Feel free to ask questions on this concept, but for now you can't really go wrong with bulbing Education and Liberalism, or even Philosophy. Edu is the only tech you will really ever use two GSs on, with the exception of maybe Astronomy which is very situational.

EPs, very interesting. I'll have to play around with that. When you spend points on that does it take away from beakers or gold? Anything?

Click to expand...

First, I want to make clear that we are talking about the same thing. You have the EP slider right under the beaker and culture (appears with Drama) sliders, and you have the EP advisor that I pointed out. All the sliders (Beaker, Culture, EP) deal directly with how you manage your outputs of commerce . Generally, and for now, you will not touch your EP and culture sliders, only focusing on beakers or gold as we have discussed in detail before. Now the point I mentioned on the EP advisor screen is about changing the focus on a particular leader. This only changes where your EPs are directed. You get 4 passive EPs from your Palace at the start of the game, so it is about directing those 4 points to a single leader for the eventual info it provides.

I do want to see what the space victory

Click to expand...

A couple of general notes too on space victory as you may just play that out. Really the only victory where you will build Oxford. You will setup your Bureaucracy capital for Ox, and get up 6 Unis asap so you can start Ox in your cap. Stone helps with that and you have it. Continuing war as much as you can to grab more land as close to Domination land % without going over, but just be careful..maybe stay a good 10% points away for now to avoid accidental tripping. If you get any vassal (Pacal would make a good one and Zara or Justinian), their land counts 50% toward that cap. But keep in mind that land in the human's possession works better for the human as you control it. However, if you can setup a good vassal or two, leaving them reasonable land, you can direct their research from the diplo screen and have them tech some things for you. (Note: Not as valuable a thing on low levels like Noble since AI techs slow anyway, but you can gift them important techs to help them) You could simply avoid vassal for now and just take the land. Either way is fine. Obviously don't kill everyone as that would end the game with a Conquest or Dom victory..ha.

Few other simple pointers:

1) You will go deep in the tech path as probably ever before...as you progress, take a look at the tech tree and note the Space part techs. Avoid techs you simply don't need - there are some paths completely irrelevant - and avoid Space Elevator, you don't even need the Robotics tech
2) As for Liberalism, I would probably hold out for something valuable for Space. You can do military damage on this level with mainly what you have now or some Medieval stuff later. So the more expensive techs on the Space path you can hold out for with Lib, although Communism is very powerful from the gains you get early. Physics is not a bad idea too, or anything later than Physics that is expensive. Lib gives it free.
3) Why Communism, you ask? State Property is a very high power civic for Space. For Space, you either go State Property or Corps depending on the map. More land based maps like this Inland Sea one favors State Property.
4) The Bureau cap with Ox will power a lot of research. You may have developed other high commerce spots as well for research and gold. However, late game, and especially with State Property - workshops, watermills, and windmills become very powerful. So most of your newer cities (captured or otherwise) and even some of your old cities will be tailored more toward hammers. (we call this the hammer economy) But don't bulldoze cottage cities like your Cap for those improvements until tech requirements are complete. The combo of State Property and all those hammers from workshops will help build space parts. You can also produce a significant output of gold and beakers by building wealth/research in some cities.
5) Great Merchants value increases immensely late game after the normal GS bulb path for Lib is complete. GM trade missions help you get lots of gold to keep your slider at 100% (Note: AI city that owns Temple of Artemis gives more gold). Otherwise, any other GPs you produce later game will likely be used for late game golden ages, that will boost tech and production to speed up your finish.
6) Although not completely necessary, finding a good hammer city to place Ironworks makes for a good parts producer, especially the really expensive parts like the Engines.
7) Lastly, and this kinda goes back to the earlier discussion on Lib path, but getting Music tech first can be nice for the Great Artist, which many use for the Mid-game golden age to increase GPP for all those Great Scientists you want...to fuel your Lib bulb path
8) addendum: find aluminum
9) addendum: Typical late game civics for Space:

Representation (sooner the better - Mids)
Bureaucracy (Free Speech can be powerful if you have a very large and heavily cottaged empire)
Caste System (always the best late but if too many civs in Emancipation you may be forced to take it - the happiness is brutal)
State Property (or Free Market if corps)
Organize Religion, Pacifism, Free Religion

(Note: One play might be doing a temporary switch to Universal Suffrage, with gold focus, to buy up Factories, Power Plants and Labs in Space Parts cities, especially if you build Kremlin)

I signed up for the SGOTM. Hopefully I can be more than a spectator!

Click to expand...

...I'm sure you will be more

Thanks once again for your help!

Click to expand...

Your Welcome...always

Last edited: Oct 20, 2018

"Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to be always part of unanimity." Christopher Morley

Many use 2xGS on education and a final one on Liberalism. You need to avoid machinery for liberalism bulb to work. Bulbing anything under 1300 beakers is normally wasteful. A scientist bulb is 1500 beakers +3xtotal population. (E.g. number of citizens.) Most will use first GS for an academy. There are many bulb strategies out there. E.G. Maths bulb to improve chops.

As for the list on the link you will always bulb the highest tech on list that is available. So for lib bulb you need techs like calendar and compass first.

Gumbo pointed out a good list on bulb priorities. I would make clear that what he is saying is not to bulb calendar or compass, or the first tech on the priority list, if that is not clear. But rather the list is a guide to the progression or prerequisites for the bulb path. So that is why the bulbing is not a a "choice". Each great person (except Great Spies which don't bulb anything) have a bulb path with tech prioritization. Each list represents that priority in order. However, there are ways around certain priorities by avoiding certain techs that block a tech bulb. I know this sounds a bit complicated but you will get a feel for it the more you play.

As an example, lets take a look at the Great Scientists bulb path with Liberalism in mind. Writing is first on the list. Well, you ain't gonna have a GS before writing anyway. Then you have Maths, Scientific Method, Physics, and Education. Education is your target on the way to Lib. Scientific Method and Physics are later than Edu so not a concern. Maths is next priority after Writing. Writing opens up Maths anyway, so hypothetically if you had a GS you could bulb it. Ofc, we are talking about Education here, so Maths is something you would have teched or traded for long ago.

Edu is opened up by Paper (which is also on the bulb path). Once you tech Civil Service (or Theocracy, which you will likely rarely do), you open Paper. Once you tech Paper, you can bulb or double bulb Education. Paper you could also bulb, but is value compared to bulb value is not great, as its base value (I think around 900 to 1000 beakers) is less than the typical GS bulb value in this time period which is usually around 1600 plus beakers. On the other hand, if you have the ability to produce a lot of GS's in a short time frame then value is relative to the speed at which you bulb through the Lib path toward your goal. (Often this goal on high levels is to use Liberalism on Military Tradition for Curaissiers - a great unit on higher difficulties)

Education is valid for a double bulb as its cost is relative to the value of 2 GS bulbs - the 2xbulb value is likely more than the base cost of Education, but it may be worth it to double bulb for the speed. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't depending on my tech rate and GS production.

Now here is where we really get to the point Gumbo was making about this bulb path and prioritization. Once Edu is bulbed or otherwise completed, Liberalism is open to tech or part bulb. However, Education also opens up Printing Press. Now look at that GS bulb list. You notice that Printing Press is next in priority after Education, so once Edu is complete, if you have a GS it will be forced to bulb Printing Press (part bulb..and not a bad use of GS by the way..it is a good tech). Likewise, you see Liberalism is way way down on that list, although much that supersedes it in priority is either already teched or comes later. So what is the key here to open Liberalism vs. Printing Press? Machinery, as Gumbo mentioned. Machinery is a requisite tech for Printing Press; therefore, you would not be able to even tech or bulb PP without completing Machinery. So the ultimate point here is there are ways to control your bulb path by how you manipulate your tech progression.

Other situations exist for special bulb paths for certain conditions, but the Lib path is the general goal of most bulb strategies...and..ha..I'm sure it is confusing enough for you already. Just play with it, and you will get a feel for it.

The Maths strategy that Gumbo pointed out is a high level play usually only done with Philo leaders. Philosophical (a top tier trait) increases GPP by 100%, so basically if you are able to get up a couple of quick libraries early game and run those scientists you can likely produce 2 GSs in about the same time as a non-Philo leader produces 1 GS (1 GS bulbs Maths, the 2nd for academy). So blowing a GS to bulb Maths can be a strategy to open up those nicer chops, usually with the intent of building a fast army. Maths can also likely be traded away for some good stuff later..so it kind of pays off even though Maths is way below the beaker value of a GS bulb. For you, I would avoid this idea for now...that academy in cap always pays off.

So here are the typical techs in a Lib path:
Philosophy (1xGS - full bulb )
Paper (avoid bulb unless you have a lot of GSs)
Education (1xGS - part bulb, or 2xGS - full bulb)
Liberalism (1XGS - part bulb)
(Philosophy actually can be good for a full bulb as the value is more on par. Paper not so much, but hypothetically if you are really pumping out GSs fast, you could bulb it all)

"Part bulb" means the GS will not fully complete the tech, so you just finish it up. Now one last thing to point out is to be cognizant of value of the GS bulb, which can fluctuate a bit based on tech rate. For instance, say you have already start putting beakers into Education with the idea of part bulbing it before completing. Try to make sure you bulb Edu before putting too many beaker such that the GS bulb value exceeds what beakers remain to finish Edu. Yes, it would complete Edu, but there is no beaker overflow when you bulb a tech, so those extra beakers are lost. Ha..this may be hard to understand at first, but I'll provide an example. Let's say your empire tech rate is 500 bpts. You start Education which cost around 2900 beakers. A GS is about to pop and is currently worth 1700 beakers for a bulb. So , hypothetically, after 3 turns you have 1500 beakers invested in Education. 2900 - 1500 = 1400. If you bulbed Edu at this point it will finish but 300 beakers would simply disappear - those leftover from the bulb (1700-1400). Now, if you bulbed Edu on the second turn: 2900-1000 = 1900 - then Edu is not yet complete. You now have about 2700 beakers invested into a 2900 beaker tech. So you put that final turn into Education at your 500 bpt tech rate. After finishes you will get about 300 beakers of overflow into the next tech. So in short, finishing techs normally gives some beaker overflow based on your tech rate, but bulbing beakers can be lost if not managed wisely.

Feel free to ask questions on this concept, but for now you can't really go wrong with bulbing Education and Liberalism, or even Philosophy. Edu is the only tech you will really ever use two GSs on, with the exception of maybe Astronomy which is very situational.

First, I want to make clear that we are talking about the same thing. You have the EP slider right under the beaker and culture (appears with Drama) sliders, and you have the EP advisor that I pointed out. All the sliders (Beaker, Culture, EP) deal directly with how you manage your outputs of commerce . Generally, and for now, you will not touch your EP and culture sliders, only focusing on beakers or gold as we have discussed in detail before. Now the point I mentioned on the EP advisor screen is about changing the focus on a particular leader. This only changes where your EPs are directed. You get 4 passive EPs from your Palace at the start of the game, so it is about directing those 4 points to a single leader for the eventual info it provides.

A couple of general notes too on space victory as you may just play that out. Really the only victory where you will build Oxford. You will setup your Bureaucracy capital for Ox, and get up 6 Unis asap so you can start Ox in your cap. Stone helps with that and you have it. Continuing war as much as you can to grab more land as close to Domination land % without going over, but just be careful..maybe stay a good 10% points away for now to avoid accidental tripping. If you get any vassal (Pacal would make a good one and Zara or Justinian), their land counts 50% toward that cap. But keep in mind that land in the human's possession works better for the human as you control it. However, if you can setup a good vassal or two, leaving them reasonable land, you can direct their research from the diplo screen and have them tech some things for you. (Note: Not as valuable a thing on low levels like Noble since AI techs slow anyway, but you can gift them important techs to help them) You could simply avoid vassal for now and just take the land. Either way is fine. Obviously don't kill everyone as that would end the game with a Conquest or Dom victory..ha.

Few other simple pointers:

1) You will go deep in the tech path as probably ever before...as you progress, take a look at the tech tree and note the Space part techs. Avoid techs you simply don't need - there are some paths completely irrelevant - and avoid Space Elevator, you don't even need the Robotics tech
2) As for Liberalism, I would probably hold out for something valuable for Space. You can do military damage on this level with mainly what you have now or some Medieval stuff later. So the more expensive techs on the Space path you can hold out for with Lib, although Communism is very powerful from the gains you get early. Physics is not a bad idea too, or anything later than Physics that is expensive. Lib gives it free.
3) Why Communism, you ask? State Property is a very high power civic for Space. For Space, you either go State Property or Corps depending on the map. More land based maps like this Inland Sea one favors State Property.
4) The Bureau cap with Ox will power a lot of research. You may have developed other high commerce spots as well for research and gold. However, late game, and especially with State Property - workshops, watermills, and windmills become very powerful. So most of your newer cities (captured or otherwise) and even some of your old cities will be tailored more toward hammers. (we call this the hammer economy) But don't bulldoze cottage cities like your Cap for those improvements until tech requirements are complete. The combo of State Property and all those hammers from workshops will help build space parts. You can also produce a significant output of gold and beakers by building wealth/research in some cities.
5) Great Merchants value increases immensely late game after the normal GS bulb path for Lib is complete. GM trade missions help you get lots of gold to keep your slider at 100% (Note: AI city that owns Temple of Artemis gives more gold). Otherwise, any other GPs you produce later game will likely be used for late game golden ages, that will boost tech and production to speed up your finish.
6) Although not completely necessary, finding a good hammer city to place Ironworks makes for a good parts producer, especially the really expensive parts like the Engines.
7) Lastly, and this kinda goes back to the earlier discussion on Lib path, but getting Music tech first can be nice for the Great Artist, which many use for the Mid-game golden age to increase GPP for all those Great Scientists you want...to fuel your Lib bulb path
8) addendum: find aluminum
9) addendum: Typical late game civics for Space:

Representation (sooner the better - Mids)
Bureaucracy (Free Speech can be powerful if you have a very large and heavily cottaged empire)
Caste System (always the best late but if too many civs in Emancipation you may be forced to take it - the happiness is brutal)
State Property (or Free Market if corps)
Organize Religion, Pacifism, Free Religion

(Note: One play might be doing a temporary switch to Universal Suffrage, with gold focus, to buy up Factories, Power Plants and Labs in Space Parts cities, especially if you build Kremlin)

...I'm sure you will be more

Your Welcome...always

Click to expand...

Wow @lymond, great post. Lots of good stuff here to digest! Thank you again for your generosity!

Only recently started on IMM after moving up from Monarch (about 50% win rate)

Spoiler:

My second attempt (first attempt at peaceful settling didnt go so well after Wang decided to test out his new Hwacha and Nappy dog-piled)

Bulbed Maths then beelined Construction for eleput attack on Nappy
After capturing Orleans and Paris took peace for Currency, then took out rest of Nappy (captured 8 and burned one on Pacal's border)

Teched all the way to Cavs then capped Pacal and then Izzy
Teched to Cannons to take out Wangs Protective Rifles

By the time I got to Justin, he had a pact with Zara and Artillery, then soon after Tanks, so very slow progress with my Cannons/Cavs/Rifles - and I was way behind in tech - so welcomed the unintended UN Victory (a win is a win afterall)

Welcome to the forums!
Well played, a diplo-domination aka "Diplomation" isn't bad.
I like your choosen spot for lagash. I did gift nappy a city at that location (or close, can't remember) and let him develop it.
Well done going for Nappy first. I got crazy and instead started with Wang who is a rather reliable ally and protective.

Immortal, No Hunts, No Events, Normal Speed, upto turn 50.
Will play this one a little slow and with deliberation after the mad dash that was Joao and Ramesses games.

Spoiler:

First question is as always, where to settle. Dye is a fine tile to have in the capital, but not until Calendar. Lack of visible food in the BFC made me consider moving the settler.
Moved Warrior 1S and discovered Pigs. Moved Settler 1S and discovered we have double wet corn!
Settled on the PH 2S1E of our starting location.

Spoiler:

Met Nappy to the North on turn 4. Since I moved South and his scout still met me on T4, I am guessing he is super close to the North.

He is the only one I opened borders with right now as Nappy and Wang are each other's worst enemies and I don't want to get into either of their good or bad books till I figure out if I am Catophanting either of them.
Espionage weight assigned to Wang Kon.

Build order was Worker, Warrior to Size 4 Settler 2 pop whipped into worker.
Granary was chopped out while Uruk regrew and first settler settled on Ivory.
Second settler whipped, chopped at size 4, is heading to settle on the Jungle Sugar to the West.
Next turn the library in Uruk finishes thanks to the overflow from the Settler.

Strategy for next turn set:
Figure out where Napoleon is.
Settle two more cities : 1 West of Stone to share Corn from Capital.
One to the South, capturing Rice and Copper.

I am as yet undecided if I should just settle peacefully and rush Mids or engage in another kind of rush.
After library in Uruk is finished, considering teching Mathematics to power up the chops and Math is not the worst trade bait for Alpha.

BTW, I am thinking of completely skipping AH for now, the Ivory city can work farm on Sugar and a couple of cottages for the Capital till I can trade for AH. Not sure if that's the right line of thinking, but if I am going to rush, I want no distractions on the way to Construction/HBR.